Since Friday, Stonebwoy has been the subject of trolls and subtle criticism from some of his fans for his outburst at an article written by Grammy on Ghana’s Hiplife journey. The article sought to recognize trailblazers and the key figures who defined and established the genre.
Titled: 10 Artists Essential to Ghana: Reggie Rockstone, Sarkodie, Mzbel, and More, one could argue that given the objective of the article, much deeper thought should have gone into it. This part of the opening paragraph contained so much misinformation: “As a movement and culture, hiplife is also an identity, created to encourage people to be daring in their exploration of sound. Pioneering hiplife artists like Root Eye, Samini, and Shatta Wale (then known as Bandana) fused dancehall and highlife in the early 2000s to make music that could connect with local audiences.”
Shatta Wale and Samini were nowhere near pioneering Hiplife artists. Of course, Samini represented a period of evolution from the Lord Kenya and Obrafour era to a period when Raga fused with singing started gaining attention. Shatta Wale’s influence was negligible, like most one-time hitmakers. Maybe someone like Asem who was mentioned should he more credited as the link between Hiplife in its purest form to the hip hop we have now.
This is the list itself: 1. Reggie Rockstone, 2. Lord Kenya, 3. Obrafour, 4. VIP, 5. Tinny, 6. Mzbel, 7. Sarkodie, and then it jumps to 8. Asakaa, 9. Black Sherif, and 10. King Paluta.
Obviously, Asakaa, Black Sherif, and King Paluta have no place in this. In view of this, Stonebwoy’s argument that the article was half-baked is perfectly in line. You can never tell the Hiplife story without mentioning Akyeame, T Blaze, Deeba, TH4Kwages, Buk Bak, or even compile a top 10 list of those who played a key role in the evolution and ignore Tic Tac in any informed list. The issue is, we don’t document our history, we only come to our realisation when uninformed people get up one day and present something completely different at varience with the fact. One example was the Gospel Music Goat debate.
However, Stonebwoy’s primary reason for objecting to it stems from him being overlooked in the recognition while others he deemed unfit to be there were recognized. That is where he got it wrong. The fact that they got it wrong by including certain names doesn’t mean he should have been there because his contribution to Hiplife in any form is zero.
I believe Stonebwoy felt disappointed because the article was from the Grammys. I bet if it was from even the BBC, he’d never have reaches the way he did.
It is an undeniable fact that of all artists in the history of Ghana, no artist has auditioned for Grammys’ recognition with half the effort of Stonebwoy. He is desperate for this and he is working to achieve that.
In view of this, it would be disappointing to read an article that goes out of the way to recognize people who are making an impact and see his name omitted. It could feel like putting in the work and not getting seen.
This is what I believe got to him, the fact he sees himself as the first name on any Grammy list that has to do with Ghana and not being mentioned in a list that contains King Paluta, Black Sherif, and Asakaa. The icing on the cake was the Shatta Wale mention.
It is not a good spirit to be offended that others are recognised instead of you, especially when the recognition is based on opinion and not necessarily data, to make such displeasure public makes you look like a small person.
At the end of the day, he had to mount spirited defence, grant interviews to clarify thr matter, but it didn’t change the impression of desperation created.
You don’t correct a wrong by adding another wrong, you take out the wrong. What Stonebwoy sort was to be added because the writer added some names he felt shouldn’t be there.
That’s a faulty thinking.
The author of this piece is Kofi Kyei Andoh. He is a writer, journalist and a researcher.
Have a news story, press release, or opinion piece you’d like to share with our audience? We’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to us at editor@metrotvonline.com
